Romanoff falls short of 50 percent

While former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff won the Democratic caucuses in Colorado Tuesday night, two days later he’s fallen just under the 50 percent benchmark as the final counties report their totals.

And that shrinking margin in the early, non-binding contest that was tailor-made for Romanoff’s activist base has Sen. Michael Bennet’s campaign feeling a bit better about their loss.

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With just 20 precincts left to be counted, Romanoff had 49.9 percent of the vote to Bennet’s 41.9 percent.

While the 49.9 percent number isn’t far from the 52 percent he held on caucus night, the slide serves as more of a symbolic lift to Bennet staffers who were attempting to manage expectations even before the caucuses convened.

“We beat our internal expectations with a stronger than expected showing on the Western Slope, and solid victories in Larimer and El Paso, plus close wins in Boulder and Weld,” Bennet campaign manager Craig Hughes told POLITICO Thursday.

Hughes pointed to several areas where he said the appointed incumbent Senator out-performed expectations, including just south of Denver and several counties in the Western Slope.

“Douglas County was considered to be a Romanoff stronghold, with a big base for him among the county party activists, so getting 43 percent there was a big victory,” said Hughes. “We also over performed in the Western Slope, in La Plata, Mesa and San Miguel.”

He also touted Bennet’s 10-point win in El Paso County, where Romanoff boasted the support of local lawmakers.

“Adams County was also surprising, given the wide support Andrew had from state representatives, state senators and county party members. He only won it by 24 votes,” Hughes said.

“Romanoff's been ahead by about nine points since Tuesday night. Fractional fluctuations in the count can't disguise the fact that Romanoff soundly defeated a sitting senator with a big bankroll and a political support group that includes the president of the United States,” said Romanoff spokesman Dean Toda.

“Colorado Democrats were subjected to a flood of Bennet mailers and robocalls. I'd say he didn't get much return on his investment,” he added.

Toda said the areas Bennet’s team is highlighting include Colorado Springs and Grand Junction, some of the reddest areas of the state.

“McCain carried them both,” Toda noted. “These locations are not going to help anyone very much in a Democratic primary,” he added.